The Conversation with My Brother that Turned into an Eyal Golan Song: An Interview with the Lyricist

"A good song, one that becomes timeless, needs to have a story, an idea that comes from a very true and precise place," claimed lyricist Avi Ohayon in response to my question: what makes a song part of the soundtrack of an era. I didn't just randomly direct this question to Ohayon. He is one of the greatest creators in Mizrahi music, credited with countless huge hits, some of which have become timeless, like the song 'Moda Ani', which he wrote for singer Omer Adam. We are having this conversation due to one of the songs he wrote for Eyal Golan, 'My Brother Told Me', which became a massive hit.

Anyone who hears the lyrics of the song immediately notices it's not just another song, but a whole story. And indeed, behind the song, Ohayon says, awaits a wonderful story. "For four years in a row, I've had a regular *chavruta* session studying Gemara each week with my brother. My brother is a scholar, lives in El'ad, and once a week we sit at my parents' house, eat couscous, and study a page of Gemara. To date, we've completed five tractates, and we don't plan to stop. There's no such thing as giving up this study session. My brother is incredibly modest. He would never tell anyone to keep Shabbat or 'do this and not that'. After studying the Gemara, we always learn a bit of the weekly Torah portion, then each goes home. After one such time, on the way to our cars and before parting ways, he caught me for a chat by the car and spoke with me for about twenty minutes. "Just so you understand," Ohayon adds with a smile, "this wasn't at eight in the evening. We usually study from about half-past ten at night and leave at around midnight, so imagine what time it was..."

"The song waited a year and a half for the right performer"

What did your brother tell you in that conversation?

"He didn't speak to me about me, but about himself. It was more like a personal monologue. My brother told me how happy he is, how much the Torah makes him feel good, and that this is his path. He spoke for twenty minutes, poured his heart out and talked about himself, and I listened. After he finished, we said goodbye and got into our cars. I started the car, and the entire drive, this conversation kept revolving in my head. I couldn't think of anything else. I got home very late and immediately went down to the basement, where my studio is, and wrote the song 'My Brother Told Me'. I just wrote that conversation, with slight changes to fit the song".

When Ohayon thought about who to give the song to, he didn't initially think of Eyal Golan. He planned to give it to another singer, whose name he prefers to keep to himself, but a series of factors led to the song ending up with Golan. "The song was in the making for about a year and a half. There are songs that come out within a week, but most don't. This was one that waited for a long time for the right moment. I’ve known Eyal for years and we are good friends. For his latest album, I wrote 11 songs out of the 20 on it. Initially, I was supposed to write only ten, but then Eyal was looking for a song about a mother, and asked if I had something like that. I didn't, but then he looked me in the eyes and asked which song I'm not playing for him. So I told him, I don't have a song about a mother, but I do have a song written about my brother".

How did he react after hearing the song?

"Eyal was immediately enthusiastic. He recorded it right away and the rest is history".

I assume you went back to your brother with this song

"Of course. He was very touched. It's not every day someone turns your truest feelings into a song".

"For a religious song to speak to everyone, it has to be relatable"

Not only Ohayon's brother and Golan were moved when they heard the song. In fact, almost everyone he encountered told him how much the song touched them. For him, as a creator, there is nothing more heartwarming.

Ohayon is usually not in the spotlight. He is 41, married, and lives in Ramla with his wife and four children. He has been in the music industry for a decade and for the past seven years has worked with the biggest singers in Mizrahi music and beyond. Although he himself is not a religious person, he grew up in a religious home and remains connected to Judaism to this day. Whether it's the regular *chavruta* with his brother or the spiritual songs he writes and composes.

"Once every year or two I write a spiritual song. I really love writing such songs, but naturally, it takes longer to develop compared to other songs. All singers, especially Mizrahi ones, seek to perform such songs because they know these songs are moving. But precisely because these songs are inherently moving, it's also very tricky and dangerous. If you try to force emotional impact on the public, it can come off as very pathetic. You can say 'Sh'ma Yisrael' and scream to the heavens, but it won't work. In the end, behind such a song there needs to be an original and true idea. That's why you can't produce such songs every week. It doesn't work like that".

Despite these songs having their natural place with religious singers, Ohayon prefers to give them to secular performers. The thought behind this is that the religious public will embrace these songs anyway. Conversely, if he wants the secular public to be exposed to them, the performers need to be secular. "Many times, religious singers approach me to write songs for them, and I don't always prefer writing religious songs for them. For instance, I have worked with Yuval Tayeb and Yaniv Ben Mashiach, but I prefer to give religious songs to Omer Adam. This way, the range is broader and the audience exposed is much more diverse," he says.

Ohayon has a clear opinion on how spiritual songs should sound. As someone living on the border between the religious and secular worlds, he knows the languages of both, and therefore understands how to make religious content and stories accessible to a secular audience. "First of all, we are all Jews, we all believe, and we all feel connected to Judaism in some way. Therefore, for songs with such content to speak to everyone, they need to be relatable. They must be very gentle and not imposing. 'My Brother Told Me', for example, doesn't tell you to keep Shabbat or mandate you to do something. It's a different, more pleasant and friendly language. There's a line saying, 'My brother told me, come to my Shabbat, try it'. This is a supportive, non-attacking dialog. People don't like being attacked; it only pushes them away".

Is it easier for you to write a spiritual song that touches many people compared to a religious person?

"I think so, because of the fact that I come from both worlds. Since I grew up in a religious place, I know both the positive sides and the struggles. So I know what speaks to people and how to bring the beautiful sides of Judaism into a song".

And what about the fact that you are not religious today? How does it affect the songs you write?

"In the end, most of the country is secular, but connected in one way or another. It's true not everyone keeps Shabbat, but almost everyone makes *kiddush*, fasts on Yom Kippur, or puts on *tefillin* every morning. It’s hard to find people who won’t look you in the eye and eat your cheese with the salami together and make a barbecue on Shabbat. There aren't many like that. So yes, not everyone is religious, but many people will go to a Torah lesson, say Sh'ma Yisrael, and go to a Rabbi for a blessing. That is our story. So there aren't many who need Judaism introduced from scratch".

You write countless songs, just for Eyal Golan's album you wrote 11 songs. Do you find that the spiritual songs touch people more than others?

"It's a complex subject. There are hits that sweep the nation without any connection. I've had various songs that I wrote over the years that were huge successes and won awards. But after a year or two, they fade away. They become outdated. When you bring a song like 'Moda Ani' or 'My Brother Told Me', these are songs that even in a decade or two people will still listen to them and it touches them and accompanies them. There's something very enjoyable about timeless songs".

"Quality is a dirty word in music"

A decade of songwriting has given Ohayon a perspective on the music world and the changes that occur time and again. When I asked him about the differences between the songs he creates today and those he created six or seven years ago, he spoke about significant differences. "Every year, changes occur in music. Always styles change, the sound changes, and you have to go with the flow. You can't stay behind, or else you become irrelevant. In general lines, you can divide songs into two categories. The first - slow songs, and the second - rhythmic songs. The songs that survive forever usually belong to the first group. If they are well written and composed, they don't have an expiration date. With rhythmic songs, it's different. There is almost an expiration date for every song, even if it’s a huge hit with millions of views on YouTube. To be relevant in rhythmic music, you have to open your ears to what’s happening in the world. To the sound and styles that change all the time. That's why they also have an expiration date. Every year or two the styles change, and thus songs leave the playlist. But slow songs you'll always enjoy listening to in the car; you'll enjoy listening, remembering, singing, and playing them".

This need to update all the time makes songwriting much more complex

"Writing songs is a job. It's not like you wake up in the morning with some crazy inspiration, a phrase suddenly comes to mind, you stop everything and sit down and write the entire song. It doesn’t really work like that. In the case of 'My Brother Told Me', it was somewhat like that, but generally, it's not like this. Nowadays, I sit three to four times a week to write and make music. There’s a method to creating songs; it’s something that requires learning".

You paint it as something very technical. Does this take the emotion out of the song

"That's the truth. I don't believe in something called 'inspiration'. You have to sit, work, and create. Of course, if you have an idea for a song, it's easier to write, but it's not a necessity. You can have a song with no content whatsoever and it can become the song of the year".

Doesn't it dilute the music? Isn't there room for quality creation?

"Quality is a dirty word in music in my opinion. I don't believe in that word. Every song respects itself, but ultimately people connect with simple things that can happen to them day-to-day. They connect with the language they speak and the things that accompany them along the way. People don't connect with things that are too complex and that's not what makes a song good. It doesn’t mean you don't need messages in the songs, of course, a message in a song is a wonderful thing. But you can listen to a song in a language you don't understand and connect with it because of its rhythm or melody. However, when that's your language, you expect more that there will be a message or idea, and the question is how you convey it in a way that makes the listener want to hear it".

There is no doubt that Ohayon managed to crack the way to make his listeners hear the messages. A long list of hits is behind him, and it only keeps growing. He knows it’s no small feat, and he doesn’t plan to stop creating songs that speak about Judaism from its embracing side.